Trips
A simple boat ramp leading into the North end of Lake Union. Not a park, not anything fancy at all, just a ramp with parking across the street.
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Pros: Free parking nearby and it's right in the middle of downtown Seattle. It's also a short walk to carry your gear, provided you can park close.
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Cons: You have to carry your gear across a street to launch and the ramp is hidden between a lot of large boats and docks making it tricky to find on your return. Also, there really isn't a place to assemble your gear. If you have an inflatable kayak like me, you have to pump it up on the sidewalk.
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Overall: Probably not an ideal beginner paddle, but a decent place to launch onto Lake Union.
8/2/17
I decided to give the Sunnyside Avenue Boat Ramp another shot, if only to get some pictures. Unfortunately, smoke from the fires up in British Columbia has drifted South and blanketed the region in a thick haze. It didn't start off too bad, but got steadily worse throughout the day. As for the Ramp itself, well, it's still just a ramp. I lucked out again on parking, but still had to pump up my kayak on a combination of gravel and the cement sidewalk and then carry it between cars and across the street to the water. There was also a lot more traffic there this time. Apparently the Ride the Ducks boats use this ramp for their activities and I passed several of them going in and out. (The last time I went here they weren't operating due to a lawsuit from the city.) It's wide enough that I didn't have any problems, but it's something to consider.
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Once in the water, I started off East towards Portage Bay...well, that's not entirely true. I started off taking pictures of the ramp and the skyline and bridges and stuff, and by the time I looked up from my camera, I had drifted half way across the lake. Total rookie move. However, since I was half way across anyway, I headed for the southern shore and then followed it East under I-5 and the University Bridge to Portage Bay.
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It's definitely an urban paddle, what with the freeway bridges and businesses lining the shore. But there are also beautiful houseboats and some nice parks to go past. There were several sailing classes out, tooling around, and I saw a youth rowing team as well. Anyway, I headed for the South end of Portage Bay just because I'd never been down there before. Turns out there's not much to see. About five feet after you go under the 520 viaduct you just hit a giant patch of lillypads which fill the area. I'm not going to lie, I'd secretly hoped that I'd find a back way into the Arboretum (which I realize is geographically impossible) or something similarly cool. Unfortunately no.
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So I turned around and headed back, up the North end of the bay, back under the bridges and back to the ramp. Not being quite done with my paddle, I decided to head over to Gasworks Park, which isn't that far away at all. That's when I started realizing exactly how bad the smoke in the air was and decided to call it a day.
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A good paddle and I'll definitely come back to the area. I just need to eventually find a launch point where I don't have to pump up my kayak on the gravel.
It's a very busy ramp.
Just after you launch from the ramp.
This was the haze at the beginning of the day, would be an amazing view if it was clear.
A view of I-5. It's an urban paddle alright.
Just about to go under the University Bridge.
Lots of sailboat classes today.
The South end of Portage Bay and the West end of highway 520.
Just some pretty flowers.
Oooh, artsy.
6/7/16
Having done some short, break-in paddles in my new kayak and since my new life jacket had come in, I figured I was up for something a bit more fun. The Arboretum is always beautiful, I reasoned. You can rent canoes at the UW and paddle around there, which I've done in the past. I thought that taking my own boat through would be way more fun. The only problem being that the Arboretum website says that there's no boat launching from there. Other websites talk about doing it, but I didn't want to break the rules if there were other alternatives.
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So I started looking up waterfront parks in that area, and they all seemed specifically designed to thwart launching your kayak. Eventually I hit upon the Sunnyside Avenue Boat Ramp. Which is exactly that, just a ramp into the water. Like the road said, "F' it. I don't care if there is a lake in the way."
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I learned some valuable things in using this ramp. Like, how much space there needs to be between cars to get your kayak through. Like how the North end of Lake Union is farther than I thought from the Montlake Cut. Also, that simple boat ramps like this can be all but invisible in the crowded industrial marine shoreline when you're trying to work your way back to them.
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The boat ramp actually worked out pretty well, although I felt weird inflating and deflating my kayak on what was essentially a concrete and gravel pedestrian path. I did get good parking though, right across the street from the ramp, and free to boot.
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I started off heading east into the ship canal, along the north side of Portage Bay, and through the Montlake Cut, just about out to Marsh Island. It was another trip where I wish I had a camera. Nice views of the city and the bridges I went under. I haven't been through the Montlake Cut on a boat since I was a kid, and seeing all the rowing team graffiti on the walls was fun. The waves going through the cut were pretty wild, which I should have realized going in since it's effectively a concrete walled corridor and the waves just bounce off the sides. Still, my kayak was solid as a rock, even when the big power boats came through and their wakes hit me.
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Unfortunately, I didn't actually go through the Arboretum, because the construction on 520 has blocked off the access from the north side. Which is annoying. Still, I was starting to get tired by the time I got there anyway, so I turned around and headed for home. Into a headwind, of course.
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Still a fun little loop, but I'm not sure I'd use that boat ramp again for anything other than going around Lake Union. It was perfectly serviceable, just in the wrong location. On the way back, though I did notice that Ivar's Salmon House has a dock for the convenience of their guests...